The former Minister of Agriculture, Adel Safar was appointed to lead a new government in Syria, being appointed by Bashir al Assad. Assad announced on state television that all detainees will be released, except those that committed criminal acts against the country and citizens. The official announcement was unclear about how many persons will be released. The authorities have accused armed bands of acting against security forces. “There was a deal between authorities and inhabitants of Baniyas to re-establish order” said Rami Abdel Rahman, President of the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. Baniyas contains a mix of Sunnis, Alawites and Christians, but is mostly Sunni Muslim.

To calm the situation in Darra, a liberalization on the selling of property has been announced.

A Facebook page calls for protests across the Syrian nation on Friday, the traditional day of prayer. Facebook removed a page for a Third Intifada against Israel after the Israeli government made a request to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook. Deal, New Jersey is now a community of mostly Syrian Jews.